Home of the Alpha Showdown, and one-stop shop for urban fantasy, paranormal romance and fantasy news and reviews.
Jade City (The Green Bone Saga #1) Fonda Lee Published: November 7, 2017 (Orbit) Purchase: Book Depository or Amazon Review source: copy provided by publisher in exchange for an honest review Reviewed by: Beth Rating (out of 5): 3 stars Jade has power, for those who can wield it. With that jade comes physical strength, unique abilities, and power over others. There are two clans who control the mining and... 
Godsgrave (Nevernight Chronicles #2) Jay Kristoff Published: Sept. 5, 2017 (Thomas Dunne Books) Purchase: Book Depository or Amazon Review source: purchased Reviewed by: Beth Rating (out of 5): 5 stars Note: while this review will be spoiler free, it will make reference to the previous book. If you haven’t started this series yet, check out VBC’s review of book 1, Nevernight. Mia is back—and more fierce... 
Haunting the Deep (How to Hang a Witch #2) Adriana Mather Published: Oct. 3, 2017 (Knopf Books for Young Readers) Purchase: Book Depository or Amazon Review Source: copy provided by publisher in exchange for an honest review Reviewed by: Beth Rating (out of 5): 3.5 stars Note: While this review is spoiler free, it does assume you’re familiar with the first book. If you aren’t, please check out VBC’s... 
Murder, Magic, and What We Wore Kelly Jones Published: Sept. 19, 2017 (Knopf Books for Young Readers) Purchase: Book Depository or Amazon Review source: copy provided by publisher in exchange for an honest review Reviewed by: Beth Rating (out of 5): 3 stars Annis Whitworth’s father is dead. Her mother has been gone for years, and her father traveled a lot. It is on one of these trips that he dies under... 
Daughter of the Burning City Amanda Foody Published: July 25, 2017 (Harlequin Teen) Purchase: Book Depository or Amazon Review Source: copy purchased by reviewer Reviewed by: Beth Rating (out of 5): 3.5 stars Gomorrah is a traveling festival perpetually surrounded by black smoke. A city and a circus, all in one—where the “respectable” folks come to see the “sin” that takes place in such a place. The same... 
How to Hang a Witch (How to Hang a Witch #1) Adriana Mather Published: July 23, 2016 (Knopf Books for Young Readers) Purchase: Book Depository or Amazon Review source: purchased Reviewed by: Beth Rating (out of 5): 4 stars Samantha (Sam) Mather is moving to Salem, Massachusetts. Not willingly, mind you. Her father is in a coma, and her stepmother insist they sell their home in New York to be able to pay... 
Bannerless (Bannerless Saga #1) Carrie Vaughn Published: July 11, 2017 (John Joseph Adams) Purchase: Book Depository or Amazon Review source: copy provided by publisher in exchange for an honest review Reviewed by: Beth Rating (out of 5): 2 stars Enid lives in the United States—or what remain of them, decades after civilization fell and was virtually destroyed. A time where girls get birth control... 
Roar (Stormheart #1) Cora Carmack Published: June 13, 2017 (Tor Teen) Purchase: Book Depository or Amazon Review source: purchased Reviewed by: Beth Rating (out of 5): 4.5 stars Aurora is a princess in a land where royalty is expected to be able to control the violent storms that erupt. Except that she cannot–and has never been able to. In a bid to protect that secret, her mother makes an arranged... 
No Good Deed Kara Connolly Published: July 18, 2017 (Delacorte) Purchase: Book Depository or Amazon Review source: copy provided by publisher in exchange for an honest review Reviewed by: Beth Rating (out of 5): 4 stars Robin Hood is a legend—robs the rich, gives back to the poor. But what if the legend as we have always known it was wrong? What if Robin Hood was really a girl and she was actually an... 
The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. Neal Stephenson and Nicole Galland Published: July 13, 2017 (William Morrow) Purchase: Book Depository or Amazon Review source: purchased Reviewed by: Beth Rating (out of 5): 2 stars D.O.D.O. The Department of Diachronic Operations. A sort of black ops department that figures out how and why magic disappeared from our world, and then works out how to make magic work again.... 
